2000
#2,034
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 16,341
First available Census row
Per 100,000 6.06
Uncommon Last name
Hooks
An occupational surname referring to someone who made or sold hooks, or lived near a hook-shaped feature.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 18,807 Americans carry the last name Hooks. That puts it at #2,156 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 5.49 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 18,225 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hooks surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Hooks with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
19K
1 in 18,225
Census rank
#2,156
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
5.5
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
16K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 16,401 bearers of the surname Hooks in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 5.49 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 2156th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hooks, the largest self-reported group is White at 47.1%. The next largest groups are Black (43.7%) and Two or More Races (4.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hooks
The surname Hooks is of English origin and is believed to have originated in the 13th century. It is thought to be a locative name, derived from a place name that referred to a hook-shaped bend in a river or road. The earliest recorded spelling is believed to be Atte Hoke, found in the Hundred Rolls of Norfolk in 1273.
The name is also linked to the Old English word "hoc," meaning a hook or angle, which could have been used to describe the shape of a piece of land or a geographical feature. This suggests that the name may have been given to someone who lived near such a feature.
In the Domesday Book of 1086, there are references to places with similar names, such as Hocca in Wiltshire and Hoch in Somerset, which could be related to the origin of the Hooks surname.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is John Hooke, who was born in Middlesex, England, in 1556. Another notable bearer of the name was Robert Hooke, a renowned English scientist and architect, who was born in 1635 and is best known for his contributions to the field of microscopy and for formulating Hooke's law of elasticity.
In the late 17th century, William Hooke (1663-1744) was a prominent English clergyman and author, known for his work "An Attempt to Shew the Folly and Danger of Atheism."
During the American Revolutionary War, Major Francis Hooke (1744-1808) served in the Continental Army and was a notable figure in the defense of Fort Stanwix in 1777.
In the 19th century, Theodore Edward Hook (1788-1841) was a prominent English writer and novelist, known for his satirical novels and plays.
It is worth noting that the surname Hooks has also been recorded with various spellings over the centuries, such as Hooke, Hook, and Hookes, reflecting the historical evolution of language and regional variations.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hooks
Among Census respondents with the surname Hooks, the largest self-reported group is White at 47.1%. The next largest groups are Black (43.7%) and Two or More Races (4.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Hooks bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Hooks surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.1% · 7,733
- Black or African American43.7% · 7,175
- Two or more races4.9% · 807
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 545
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 72
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 69
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hooks
Hooks appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#2,125
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 17,053
+712 bearers (+4.4%)
Per 100,000 5.78
Rank movement Down 91 places
2020
#2,156
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 16,401
-652 bearers (-3.8%)
Per 100,000 5.49
Rank movement Down 31 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #2,034 | 16,341 | 6.06 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,125 | 17,053 | 5.78 | +712 bearers (+4.4%) | Down 91 places |
| 2020 | #2,156 | 16,401 | 5.49 | -652 bearers (-3.8%) | Down 31 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Hooks surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #2,125 | #2,156 | -1.5% |
| Count | 17,053 | 16,401 | -3.8% |
| Per 100K | 5.78 | 5.49 | -5.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hooks bearers went from 17,053 to 16,401 (-3.8% change). The surname moved down 31 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,125 to #2,156.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Hooks
FAQ
Hooks surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hooks?
Name Census estimates that about 18,807 living Americans carry the surname Hooks. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 18,225 residents.
How common is Hooks?
Hooks ranks #2,156 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 5.49 per 100,000 residents, which is about 5 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 16,401 people with the surname Hooks. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (18,807), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 5.49 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 5.49 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 5 of them to have the surname Hooks.
Has Hooks become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hooks went from 17,053 recorded bearers to 16,401. That is a decrease of 652 (-3.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #2,125 to #2,156.
What does the Census say about the background of Hooks?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hooks, the largest self-reported group is White at 47.1%. The next largest groups are Black (43.7%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Hooks in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.1% (7,733 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hooks appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (47.1%), Black (43.7%), Two or More Races (4.9%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Hooks (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Hooks mean?
An occupational surname referring to someone who made or sold hooks, or lived near a hook-shaped feature. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Hooks (5.49 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Hooks?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.